It seems sometimes like there's an unspoken rule where whenever a truly broken character starts to pull their life together, they have to die. Because life is cruelly ironic, and no one likes to remind us of this uncomfortable fact more than television writers. Richard Harrow is a prime example of this style of writing. Harrow was a sharpshooter during the First World War, with a severe facial disfigurement that required him to wear a tin mask over the left side of his face. After his war experiences, he found it difficult to reintegrate himself into civilian society, and quickly carved out a role for himself as a hitman. But by the fourth season of Boardwalk Empire, he's beginning to realize that he doesn't have much of a stomach for violence and murder anymore. He is in love, and he has the custody of his late best friend's son. Suddenly the family life he always longer for but never believed he could have because of his facial injury seems well within his grasp. But to keep custody of his adopted son, he agrees to One Last Hit. And we know those never end well. Harrow is fatally shot, but manages to escape under the Atlantic City pier, where he dies, staring out at the ocean. Peace at last. I don't want to talk about this anymore. How did this even come up? Shut up you jerks, of course I'm not crying!
Audrey Fox is an ex-film student, which means that she prefers to spend her days in the dark, watching movies and pondering the director's use of diegetic sound. She currently works as an entertainment writer, joyfully rambling about all things film and television related. Add her on Twitter at @audonamission and check out her film blog at 1001moviesandbeyond.com.
